PNC Park: The Ballpark and the North Shore Around It

The North Side light-rail station, underground near General Robinson Street, serves PNC Park. It is one of two stations that opened on the North Shore Connector in spring 2012, the other being the elevated Allegheny station near Acrisure Stadium; Allegheny station serves visitors to Acrisure Stadium and to the Carnegie Science Center, which its own site now gives as the Kamin Science Center.

The North Shore Connector carries the Pittsburgh Regional Transit light rail system's Blue, Red and Silver lines under the Allegheny River, from Downtown's Gateway station to the North Side and Allegheny stations. The light rail operates a pay-on-entry / pay-on-exit system with a Downtown / North Shore free-fare zone, and trips within that zone — which covers PNC Park — do not require a fare.

Pittsburgh Regional Transit also operates roughly 95 bus routes across Allegheny County on a flat-fare structure, which replaced zone-based fares in 2017. Fares are payable by ConnectCard smart card or cash, and time-based transfers are valid across bus and rail.

On foot from Downtown, the crossing is a bridge. The North Shore borders Downtown Pittsburgh via the Roberto Clemente, Andy Warhol and Rachel Carson bridges. The Roberto Clemente Bridge, formerly the Sixth Street Bridge, stands near the southeast corner of the ballpark site and is closed to vehicular traffic on game days to allow spectators to park downtown and walk to the stadium.

By car, PNC Park is close to Interstate 279 exit 1B and within one mile of Interstates 376 and 579. On parking the record stops short of a price. The Pittsburgh Sports & Exhibition Authority, which manages North Shore parking, lists a North Shore Garage entered from Sandusky Street, Lacock Street or General Robinson Street; its page publishes no rate and directs inquiries to ALCO Parking Corporation or ParkPGH.org, and no cost could be confirmed from either. The same page does not name the individual surface lots the research first attributed to it, so none is named here.

The North Shore is a Pittsburgh neighborhood of zip code 15212, and it holds Acrisure Stadium, PNC Park and the Andy Warhol Museum at 117 Sandusky Street. Much of the modern neighborhood, including the land under Acrisure Stadium and the Kamin Science Center, was built on the former Smoky Island — also called Killbuck Island — in the Allegheny River, which had gradually disappeared by the late 19th century.

Four institutions carry the neighborhood's cultural weight. The Andy Warhol Museum explores Warhol's life and legacy through its collection of his art and archives. The Kamin Science Center, at One Allegheny Avenue, offers five floors of interactive STEM exhibits and has the Cold War-era submarine USS Requin (SS 481) on display; its own site records that it was formerly the Carnegie Science Center. The National Aviary, at 700 Arch Street, is a zoological facility focused on birds and references 46 years of Andean Condor conservation work. The Mattress Factory, at 509 Jacksonia Street, is an artist-centered contemporary art museum and international residency program focused on installation art, and holds a Greer Lankton Collection.

Federal Galley, at 200 Children's Way, is a food hall of four restaurant concepts under one roof — Triple S Cafe, Burghdawg, Mijo and PGH Dumplingz — with a full-service bar and shared community seating. Rivers Casino & The Landing Hotel, at 777 Casino Drive, is a casino and hotel property with gaming tables, slot machines, a sportsbook, dining and an event center.

Two things about the record behind all of this. First, no source fetched for this guide states any distance or spatial relationship between the casino hotel and PNC Park, so none is given; the research declined to invent one and so does this guide. Second, six of these seven places rest on their own websites alone for evidence that they are trading, and an institution's own site is not independent confirmation. So this guide does not say they are open. It does not say they have closed either: there is no evidence of that, and none should be inferred. Telephone first.

PNC Park broke ground on April 7, 1999 and opened on March 31, 2001, after roughly 24 months of construction. Kansas City-based Populous, then trading as HOK Sport, designed it in collaboration with L.D. Astorino & Associates. PNC Financial Services had bought the naming rights in August 1998 for $30 million over 20 years; a 2021 extension runs the agreement through 2031, which is why the ballpark still carries that name.

The building itself is a two-deck ballpark, the first built in the United States since 1953, in a Kasota limestone facade and steel over a natural Kentucky bluegrass playing surface. Its home dugout is positioned along the third-base line so that the Downtown Pittsburgh skyline is visible behind the field. Seating capacity is 38,747.

Four statues stand around it. Honus Wagner's was first unveiled at Forbes Field in 1955 and now stands at the home plate entrance. Roberto Clemente's was installed outside Three Rivers Stadium in 1994 and moved here after that stadium's demolition. Willie Stargell's was unveiled on April 7, 2001. Bill Mazeroski's was added at the right-field entrance, on Mazeroski Way, during the 2010 season.

Three published rankings name the ballpark, and all three are other people's rankings rather than the club's own. The ESPN.com writer Jim Caple ranked PNC Park the best stadium in Major League Baseball with a score of 95 out of 100. A 2017 Washington Post panel ranked it the second-best. ABC News named it among America's 7 Best Ballparks in 2010.

The Pittsburgh Pirates compete in Major League Baseball as a member of the National League Central Division and have played their home games at PNC Park since 2001.